Pumps



Aug. 31, 1965 J. E. A. DELORME 3,203,357

PUMPS Filed April 1'7, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR M40905; 54.35.4024 15 ATTORNEYS 1965 J. E. A. DELORME 3,203,357

PUMPS Filed April 17, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

INVENTOR Jam/3 5 4. DEL ole/ms ATTORNEYS United States Patent 5 Claims. b1. 103-153 The present invention relates to measuring and the like pump-s ot the piston, diaphragm or the like type that is, in particular, to measuring pumps adapted to supply, with desired accuracy, well-defined amounts of liquid at each stroke of the piston, chiefly in the case of measuring pumps wherein the amount of liquid to be fed at each stroke of the piston may be adjusted and modified during operation.

Such measuring pumps as used :fior industrial purposes, chiefly for chemical or foodstufi industries and the like, are generally stationary and disposed at locations which have been specially designed for the purpose and are connected, by means of valve boxes, with input and delivery channels which are also stationary. r

If required, the pump body may be removably fitted on the mechanical control system of the pump in a manner such that it is possible to readily change said pump body and also the piston and diaphragm moving therein when it is desired to replace the pump body by a pump body of a different capacity.

In such arrangements, however, the drawback is generally encountered which that, when it is desired to clean or to change the valve boxes or to inspect the fluidtight means between the piston and the pump body or even when it is required to replace the pump body by another pump body, it is necessary to dismantle the suction and delivery pipes. Said dismantling requires generally a shifting and bending of said pipes together with a subsequent shifting and bending in the opposite direction of the pipes upon reassembling of the parts. This leads, on the one hand, to a lengthy and intricate operation and, on the other hand, to a risk of damaging the pipes. Furthermore, it may occur that the pipes convey dangerous liquids and said handling of the pipes may then be dangerous for the worlcmen.

The invention has for its primary object to allow an easy cleaning and even a removal and replacement of the valve boxes and of the fluidtight means provided between the piston and the pump body without it being necessary to shift the actual pipes.

The invention also has -for its object to allow, it required, replacing the pump body and also its piston Without it being necessary to shift said pipes.

To this end, the invention consists firstly in providing a system of valve boxes constituted by tubular or bored elements, fitted in alignment with reference to one another and terminating with mouthpieces extending along the same alignment While at least one of said mouthpieces is adapted to slide over the corresponding mouthpiece provided on the liquid feeding pipe or on the delivery pipe, said pipes being aligned While the sliding movement of the mouthpiece or mouthpieces last reterred to is controlled by a system of nuts which allovvs, upon screwing down of the latter, an easy adjustment of the Whole system, While preserving the fiuidtightness of the mouthpiece on the input and output pipes and also the fluidtightness of the different removable elements with reference to one another and to the pump body. Said sliding allows, when the nuts are released, disengaging the different super-posed elements forming the valve boxes and removing them for cleaning or replacement and the like.

3,203,357 Patented Aug. 31, 1965 Said arrangement also has the advantage that the admission and delivery pipes are arranged coaxially with the valve boxes so that th liquid, both during its suction and during its delivery, is subjected to no deflection, as is often the case :with conventional apparatus.

According to a further feature of the invention, the pump body itself may be caused to slide longitudinally with reference to its carrier means in a manner such that it may, after removal of the valve boxes, be removed through the front end of said carrier means Without the latter being dismantled. Said removal of the pump body gives access to the pump packings without further dismantling.

Suitable adjusting means of the nut and screvv type for instance allow shitting slightly the pump body With reference to its carrier means during assembly in a manner such that the transverse bore opening into an end of the cylinder in the pump body, and formed in side the latter, while it communicates in its turn with the valve boxes, may be repositioned with the desired accuracy so as to be aligned with the axis of said valve According to a further object of the invention, the carrier means for the pump body and the valve boxes, which carrier means are fitted, on the one hand, over the mechanical section of the pump and, on the other hand, over the ends of the input and delivery .pipes may, if required, be covered by a removable cover which, on the one hand, serves fior protecting the valve boxes and, on the other hand, forms round the latter a closed annular chamber communicating, it required, with the atmosphere through suitable pipes feeding a stream of a liquid or of a gas, whether hot or cold, so as to cool or heat said valve boxes during operation or during shutdown. The heating may also be provided for example by means of electric resistance heating.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear in the reading of the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings illustrating diagrammatically by way of example and in a non-limiting sense, a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In said drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section through a plane passing both through the axis of the piston and of the pump body and through the axis of the valve boxes, into which the input and delivery pipes open.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the whole arrangement as seen from the left-hand side of FIG. 1, the cover being assumed to be in position on the right-hand side of said FIG. 2 and removed on the left-hand side.

The drawings illustrate only the hydraulic section of the pump, that is the section including the pump body, the piston, the valves and the ends of the suction and delivery pipes, excluding the mechanical section of the pump, that is the driving means controlling the movements of the piston.

Said mechanical section allows giving the piston a reciprocation of which the stroke is adjustable if required during operation in a manner well-known per se.

It should also be remarked that the improved arrangement according to the invention is applicable, as well, if required, to pumps having a fixed stroke, in which case the mechanical section of the pump is obviously of a simpler type.

. The hydraulic section of the pump is fitted as a whole inside a support or carrier means 1 which has the shape of a T of which the medial leg 2 extending horizontally is provided longitudinally with a bore 3 adapted to carry the cylinder of the pump and its piston, Whereas the transverse member 4 of the T-shaped support is also bored longitudinally in a direction perpendicular to the bore 3,

said bore opening into the bore 3 and being aligned with the axis of aligned intake and delivery pipes 5 and 6, as disclosed hereinafter. Said bore in the transverse member of the T-shaped member is adapted to carry the valves and the valve hexes.

The medial leg 2 includes webs 7 with a supporting plate 8 for said medial leg. Said plate 8 is adapted to be secured, in any suitable manner, to the casing containing the mechanical section of the pump of which FIG. 1 shows only the terminal plate 9. The securing together of the plates 8 and 9 by screws extending through openings 10 formed in said two plates.

It should also be mentioned that the T-shaped support 1 may include two or more parts made, if required, of different metals and assembled in any suitable manner.

11 designates the actual pump body which is cylindrical and is adapted to be fitted inside the bore 3 inside which it may be secured by means of a nut and screw arrangement to be described hereinafter.

12 designates a fluidtight packing adapted to be fitted between the bore 3 and the pump body 11. Inside the cylindrical recess in said pump body a piston 13 is reciprocably disposed, which piston is secured, through screwing for instance, to its piston rod 15 which is actuated in its turn in any suitable manner by mechanical means, of a type known per se, arranged inside the casing containing the mechanical section of the pump. Rod 15 transmits to the piston 13 a reciprocating movement, the stroke of which is well-defined and may be adjusted, if required, during operation.

The left-hand end of the cylinder formed in the pump body communicates through a bore 16 provided in said pump body with a bore 17 extending perpendicularly to the cylinder and formed in said cylinder. Bore 16 ensures the connection of the cylinder with the valve boxes in the bore 17, as will be described hereinafter.

The two ends of the transverse member of the T-shaped support provide a connection, as already mentioned, with the intake and delivery pipes 5 and 6. To this end, said intake and delivery pipes include, at a predetermined distance from their ends, outer centering and positioning abutment flanges 18 and 19 adapted to engage the corresponding flanges 20 and 21 formed in the transverse member 4 and urged against the latter by the nuts 22 and 23, the whole system being arranged in a manner such that the two pipes may be aligned on the same axis which is also that of the bore 17.

Between the cooperating ends of the pipes 5 and 6 and the transverse extension of the pump body provided in its center with the bore 17 are removably arranged the different valve boxes, to wit: in the example illustrated, two boxes containing ball valves on the intake side and two valve boxes containing flap valves on the delivery side.

Of course, the nature and the number of the valves may be selected, as desired, according to requirements.

Each of the valve boxes 24, 24, 25, 25' includes a cylindrical casing open at its ends and inside which is housed the valve, whether a ball or a flap valve which rests on a removable axially perforated valve seat 26, 26', 27, 27', respectively, adapted to carry the cooperating balls 28, 28' and flap valves 29, 29'.

The rectilinear line of valves between the intake pipe 5 and the delivery pipe 6, includes thus, in superposed relationship the following successive parts from bottom to top:

The connection 30 suitably carried by the end of the intake pipe 5 and on which rests a cylindrical element 31 carrying the seat for the valve seat 26, the box 24 resting on said valve seat 26, the seat 26 on said box 24, said cylindrical member 31 enclosing the valve seat 26, the box 24, the seat 26 and the lower end of the box 24' the upper end of which engages the front end of the pump body 11 and surrounds the lower end of the bore 17 in the pump body 11.

On the other, upper end of the said bore 17, a similar arrangement is provided which includes a sleeve 31 engaging the pump body 11 and surrounding said other, upper end of the bore 17, the valve seat 27, the box 25', the valve seat 27 and the box 25, these different parts being fitted inside the cylindrical member 31'.

The upper end of the box 25 engages in its turn a connection 30' slidably fitted over the end of the .pipe 6.

Between the ends of the different parts which have just been mentioned are provided suitable packings which ensure fluid tightness, as will be readly apparent from inspection of the drawing, and also further packings which are not illustrated and are eXecuted in accordance with conventional technique. It will be readily understood that it is sufficient to shift aside one of the connections 30 and 30' by sliding it over the end of the corresponding pipe 5 or 6 so as to allow a disengagement towards the left-hand side of FIG. 1 of all the intermediate corresponding parts which have been mentioned hereinabove. To this end, nuts 32, 32 housed inside recesses 33, 33' in the transverse member 41, screwed over the connections 30 and 30' and resting on the stationary bearings 40, 40' may be used in a manner such as to allow the vertical shifting of said connections 30, 30 with reference to the ends of the pipes 5 and 6 and to ensure thus their locking on the intermediate parts listed hereinabove.

A cover 34 may be fitted over the transverse member 4 so as to close the chamber formed by the latter and housing the whole system of valve boxes. Said cover, on the one hand, closes the valve boxes against the outer atmosphere and, on the other hand, it allows, if required, in troducing a heating or cooling fluid on the outside of the valve boxes within the space comprised between the latter and the inside of the upright 4. The packings 35 and 12 provide for the fluidtightness of the last-mentioned chamber with reference to the atmosphere.

The means will now be described which allow adjusting the position of the bore 17 in a manner such that it may lie exactly in alignment with the axis of the valve boxes.

Said bore 17, as already disclosed, is provided in the front section of the block 11 forming the pump body. Said block, as also mentioned already, is adapted to slide inside the support 2.

The sliding of said block is provided by means of a tapped and outwardly threaded nut member '36, the threads inside and outside said member having different pitches. Said member is screwed outwardly into the support 2 and inwardly over the pump body 11 so that upon rotation of the nut member, there is obtained a continuous longitudinal shifting of the pump body 11 with reference to the support 2.

It is thus possible to make the pump body or block 11 slide accurately with reference to the transverse member 4 forming part of the support so as to adjust accurately through said sliding movement the position of the bore 17 with reference to the line of valves. Said adjustment being executed, the nut member 36 is locked in its final position by means of a screw 38 for instance.

The above-disclosed arrangement operates as follows: when it is desired to dismantle the valves so as to clean or to repair them, or even to change them, it is suflicient to first remove the cover 34, after which the two terminal connections 30 and 30' are unscrewed, so as to release the whole system of valve boxes. It is then ossible to remove the different valve boxes from their housings and said operation is performed, obviously, without it being necessary to modify the position of the intake and delivery pipes 5 and 6.

It is then possible to clean or to change the valve, the subsequent reinsertion of said valves being efl'ected through a reverse sequence of operations. It is also possible to dismantle only one side, the delivery side of the intake side, without touching the other side.

On the other hand, if it is desired to change the fluidtight packings 39 of the piston, the valve boxes are first released as disclosed and the pump body is screwed out of the nut member 36 through rotation of the six-sided head rigid with the front end of said body which is then, removed bodily with its packings and the means securing the latter in position. It is then possible to repair or to change the packings under the best possible conditions of operation, either directly in the case of packings of a molded or machined type, as illustrated in the upper half of FIG. 1, or else, by resorting to a dummy piston in the case of stuffed packings, as illustrated in the lower half of FIG. 1. The assembling of the parts is then performed through a reverse sequence of operations and the tapping of the member 36 is such that it is not possible to reinsert the valve boxes before the position corresponding to perfect alignment of the transverse bore 17 with the pipes 5 and 6 has been reached.

If furthermore, it is desired to remove the piston so as to replace, for instance, the system including the piston and the pump body, it is suflicient, when the valve boxes and the pump body have been removed as above, to unscrew the piston 13 by means of the head 14 rigid with the front end of the piston. It is then possible to change the piston and cylinder unit and, if required, to replace it by a unit having a different piston diameter.

In the above example, reference is made to a directly actuated plunger piston pump.

The present invention is applicable as well to diaphragm pumps, the diaphragms of which are directly coupled with the mechanical control section, or else, are actuated through the agency of an intermediate fluid controlled in its turn by a piston. In this case, it is possible to provide in the same manner similar means for the removal of the diaphragm and of the piston acting on the intermediate fluid.

It is obviously possible to incorporate various modifications to the embodiment described without thereby exceeding the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apump comprising a support provided with a longitudinal bore and a transverse channel into a medial point of which the longitudinal bore opens, a cylinder fitted in the longitudinal bore and enclosing a chamber opening through a bore into the end of the cylinder facing the transverse channel, a liquid-operating member reciprocatingly carried inside the cylinder chamber, a suction pipe and a delivery pipe the coaxial ends of which are rigidly secured to the support and open into the corresponding outer ends of the transverse channel, coaxial lines of fluidtightly interconnected tubular valve boxes fitted in alignment with said pipe ends inside the transverse channel, each to one side of its medial point, suction and delivery valves in the valve boxes of the line extending between the medial point and the corresponding pipes, a connection slidingly fitted over the end of each pipe facing the correspondingline of valve boxes, and means adapted to shift each connection over the end of the cooperating pipe to secure it selectively in an operative position ensuring a fluidtight connection between said pipe end and the cooperating valve box line and an inoperative position for which the connection is collapsed over the corresponding pipe end and releases the cooperating line of valve boxes.

2. A pump comprising a support provided with a longitudinal bore and a transverse channel into a medial point of which the longitudinal bore opens, a cylinder fitted in the longitudinal bore and enclosing a chamber opening through a bore into the end of the cylinder facing the transverse channel, a liquid-operating member reciprocatingly carried inside thecylinder chamber, a suction pipe and a delivery pipe the coaxial ends of which are rigidly secured to the support and open into the corresponding outer ends of the transverse channel, coaxial lines of fluidtightly interconnected tubular valve boxes fitted in alignment with said pipe ends inside the transverse channel, each to one side of its medial point, suction and delivery valves in the valve boxes of the lines extending between the medial point and the corresponding pipes, a connection slidingly fitted over the end of each pipe facing the corresponding line of valve boxes, and a nut bearing against the support and threadedly engaging each connection to shift the latter upon rotation of the nut to urge said connection inwardly out of a disengaged position with reference to the corresponding line of valve boxes towards a position fluidtightly interconnecting said line of valve boxes with the corresponding pipe.

3. A pump comprising a support provided with a longitudinal bore and a transverse channel into a medial point of which the longitudinal bore opens, a cylinder slidingly and removably fitted in the longitudinal bore and enclosing a chamber opening into a longitudinal bore formed in the cylinder and extending at right angles into aligned transverse bores of opposite directions, the ends of which normally register with the transverse channel, a liquid-operating member reciprocatingly carried, inside the cylinder chamber, a suction pipe and a delivery pipe the coaxial ends of which are rigidly secured to the support and open into the corresponding outer ends or the transverse channel, coaxial lines of fluidtightly interconnected tubular valve boxes fitted in alignment with the transverse bores in the cylinder and with the said pipe ends inside the transverse channel, each to one side of its medial point, suction and delivery valves in the valve boxes of the lines extending between the medial point and the corresponding pipe, a connection slidingly fitted over the end of each pipe facing the corresponding line of valve boxes, and means adapted to shift each connection over the end of the cooperating pipe to secure it selectively in an operative position ensuring a fluidtight connection between said pipe end and the cooperating valve box line and an inoperative position for which the connection is collapsed over the corresponding pipe end and releases the cooperating line of valve boxes.

4. A pump comprising a support provided with a longitudinal bore and a transverse channel into a medial point of which the longitudinal bore opens, a cylinder slidingly and removably fitted in the longitudinal bore and enclosing a chamber opening into a longitudinal bore formed in the cylinder and extending at right angles into aligned transverse bores of opposite directions, the ends of which normally register with the transverse channel, a liquid-operating member reciprocatingly carried inside the cylinder chamber, a suction pipe and a delivery pipe the coaxial ends of which are rigidly secured to the support and open into the corresponding outer ends or the transverse channel, coaxial lines of fluidtightly interconnected tubular valve boxes fitted in alignment with the transverse bores in the cylinder and with the said pipe ends inside the transverse channel, each to one side of its medial point, suction and delivery valves in the valve boxes of the lines extending be tween the medial point and the corresponding pipe, a connection slidingly fitted over the end of each pipe facing the corresponding line of valve boxes, means adapted to shift each connection over the end of the cooperating pipe to secure it selectively in an operative position ensuring a fluidtight connection between said pipe end and the cooperating valve box line and an inoperative position for which the connection is collapsed over the corresponding pipe end and releases the cooperating line of valve boxes, adjusting means threadedly engaging the outer periphery of the cylinder and engaging the outer surface of the support to accurately define the position of the cylinder with reference to the support.

5. A pump comprising a support provided with a longitudinal bore and a transverse channel into a medial point of which the longitudinal bore opens, a cylinder fitted in the longitudinal bore and enclosing a chamber opening through a here into the end of the cylinder facing the transverse channel, a liquid-operating member reciprocatingly carried inside the cylinder chamber, a suction pipe and a delivery pipe the coaxial ends of which are rigidly secured to the support and open into the corresponding outer ends of the transverse channel, coaxial lines of fluidtightly interconnected tubular valve boxes fitted in alignment with said pipe ends inside the transverse channel, each to one side of its medial point, suction and delivery valves in the valve boxes of the line extending between the medial point and the corresponding pipes, a connection slidingly fitted over the end of each pipe facing the corresponding line of Valve boxes, means adapted to shift each connection over the end of the cooperating pipe to secure it selectively in an operative position ensuring a fluidtight connection between said pipe References Qited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/54 Wilson 103-152 X 2/56 Saalfrank 103230 X LAURENCE V. EFNER, Primary Examiner.

15 WARREN E. COLEMAN, Examiner. 

1. A PUMP COMPRISING A SUPPORT PROVIDED WITH A LONNGITUDINNAL BORE AND A TRANSVERSE CHANNEL INTO A MEDIAL POINT OF WHICH THE LONGITUDINAL BORE OPENSS, A CYLINDDEER FITTED IN TTHE LONGITUDINAL BORE AND ENCLOSING A CHAMBEER OPENING THROUGH A BORE INTO THE END OF THE CYLINDER FACING THE TRANSVERSE CHANNEL, A LIQUID-OPERATING MMEMBER RECIPROCATINGLY CARRIED INSIDE THE CYLINDER CHAMBER, A SUCTION PIPE AND A DELIVEY PIPE THE COAXIAL ENDS OF WHICH ARE RIGIDLY SECURED TO THE SUPPORT AND OPEN INTO THE CORRESPONDING OUTER ENDS OF THE TRANSVERSE CHANNEL, COAXIAL LINES OF FLUIDTIGHTLY INTERCONNECTED TUBULAR VALVE BOXES FITTED IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID PIPE ENDS INSIDE THE TRANSVERSE CHANNEL, EACH TO OPEN SIDE OF ITS MEDIAL POINT, SUCTION AND DELIVERY VALVES IN THE VALVE BOXES OF THELINE EXTENDING BETWEEN THE MEDIAL POINT ANND THE CORRESPONDING PIPES, A CONNECTION SLIDINGLY FITTED OVER THE END OIF EACH PIPE FACING THE CORRESPONDING LINE OF VALVE BOXES. AND MEANS ADAPTED TO SHIFT EACH CONNECTION OVER THE ENND OF THE COOPERATING PIPE TO SECURE IT SELECTIVELY IN AN OPERATIVE POSITION ENSURING A FLUIDTIGHT CONNECCTION BETWEEN SAID PIPE END AND THE COOPERATING VALVE BOX LINE AND AN INOPERATIVE POSITION FOR WHICH THE CONNECTION IS COLLAPSED OVER THE CORRESPONDING PIPE END AND RELEASES THE COOPERATING LINE OF VALVE BOXES. 